Habitat for Humanity Fundraiser – The Wilkins House Cardboard Version
I’ve been working making a little cardboard Putz house based on the Wilkins House, a dramatic example of the Italianate style in my hometown. The goal is to make 2 versions (one Christmas and one Halloween) that will be auctioned off at the Habitat for Humanity fundraiser in October. Last year my little house that was auctioned was sold for $80. I am hoping that these houses will sell for much more. In other words, I want these Wilkins House putz houses to be spectacular. (By the way, the sale of all of the other Halloween houses brought in an additional $1300 for Habitat.)
Prototype for the Wilkins House
I finally realized that in order to make such a complicated house in miniature I needed to do a mock-up. That mock-up evolved into the Spring Mansion. The design ended up being so different from the inspiration that it took on a life of its own. I decided to call it Spring mansion because it’s not spooky like my Halloween houses, the lawn is a spring green, the house colors are nice and crisp like springtime, so the house became the Spring mansion.
This article is not about the Wilkins House, but about a new house – the Spring Mansion.
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| Spring Mansion on a sunny day |
I am very happy about a number of things with this house. I love the colors – the house itself is painted with a Tim Holtz Distress Hickory Smoke; the chimneys, porch and stairs are painted with Distress Pumice Stone paint. The roof shingle color is Faded Jeans in the same line of Distress paint, distressed on the edges with some Black Soot Ink. Mowed Lawn, of course, is the color of the green base. The trim is painted with a thick white gesso. And always, I love these windows. They are die cuts from the Village Manor by Tim Holtz and Sizzix. I just think they are so cool. Most importantly is that they are so cool and I don’t have to cut them by hand.
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| Sizzix Village Bungalow – Offcuts from the fence to make the trim around the house and to make the balusters for the porch |
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| Spring Mansion angled side view |
Notice the wonky fence lines. Usually I do a better job matching up edges and gluing them together. My cabinetmaker brother suggested that I miter the edges. Miter cardboard? I think he was joking for the most part.
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| Spring Mansion side view which shows the fencing pattern better |
The photo above shows how the lace was modified to make a fence, but you can also see that I didn’t glue the railing pieces on evenly where the front of the fencing on this side is shorter than the back of the fencing. That will be rectified on the next house.
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| View of the rooflines on the Spring Mansion |
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| Bird’s eye view of roof on the Spring Mansion |
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| Looking down on the house where the rooflines come together |
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This is a lovely house and it does look like Spring! How fun that the prototype grew itself into a new house! The balusters and fence look good and very intricate. I'm sure the Wilkins House will look fantastic!
Thank you, Laney. I just didn't want to waste the prototype so I finished it even though I was kind of slack with the fence and railing.
I love the details! This house is so intricate!
Just one word…WOW! I would love to live in a house like this, even with wonky railings and all! Now I see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, knowing your brother is a cabinet maker!
Lucy…I am so glad that you stopped by my blog and left a sweet comment! I found your blog! I LOVE little houses and yours are truly works of art! My word! I was reading through some of your posts and you are so talented! The amount of time and effort that goes into each one is astounding. I really appreciate all of that because I KNOW how much time it takes to do them RIGHT! For you to come up with your own patterns is also amazing! Lucy, you are a talent! Thanks so much for sharing and for the wonderful charitable work you're doing.
Thanks for stopping by my blog, and glad you did so I can come scope you out too! I LOVE your house, and the fact it's for charity makes me love you too! AWESOME!!!!
Thank you, Lynn. I like this house pattern, but I had to modify it for the real Wilkins House because I needed more space for the decor. But I will redo this house as a Halloween house in the future.
Thank you, Sara. The next house (the real Wilkins house) is going to be better because of the experimentation on this house.
Thank you, Candy. I appreciate you coming to my blog.
Thank you, Anita, for coming to see my blog. It means a lot to have comments from such incredible crafters.